Drug cartel operatives used weapons from Operation Fast and Furious in a failed attempt to assassinate a high-ranking Mexican law enforcement official, the El Paso Times reports in an article that follows up on an initial report from Breitbart News' Mary Chastain.

Quasar:Drug cartel operatives used weapons from Operation Fast and Furious in a failed attempt to assassinate a high-ranking Mexican law enforcement official, the El Paso Times reports in an article that follows up on an initial report from Breitbart News' Mary Chastain.

Because clearly had they not had weapons from the US...they would have succeeded in their attempt? The attempt would never have happened? Or what?

Anyone with reading comprehension would have understood by now that there were no "Fast and Furious" weapons released to be used in crime. That was a gross mischaracterization.

The ATF task force was contacted by gun vendors when certain transactions occurred, which the task force then brought to the District Attorney to get warrants to search the individual's person and property. These warrant requests were repeatedly denied by the DA.

Of course they are. Gun companies have been knowingly selling weapons to stores that in-turn sell those weapons to criminals. In fact, the NRA has spent million of dollars lobbying Congress to ensure such transactions remain immune from investigation. So in reality, the NRA has caused the deaths of 10's of thousands of Mexicans.

StopLurkListen:Anyone with reading comprehension would have understood by now that there were no "Fast and Furious" weapons released to be used in crime. That was a gross mischaracterization.

The ATF task force was contacted by gun vendors when certain transactions occurred, which the task force then brought to the District Attorney to get warrants to search the individual's person and property. These warrant requests were repeatedly denied by the DA.

That was the only connection the ATF had to the weapons.

I had read that the firearm sellers were reluctant to complete the transactions, but were instructed by the Bureau to do so.

More proof, if any were needed, that the government will stick it to the small business owner if it can.

/Won't someone think of the gun retailers?

/I sell to leftists and rightists. I sell to pacifists, but they're not the most regular customers. Of course, you're not a true internationalist until you've supplied weapons to kill your own countrymen.

/it took a nipponized bit of the old sixth avenue el; in the top of his head: to tell him

That Mexican criminal cartels obtain short-barreled rifles, fully automatic vehicle-mounted machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and launchers and hand grenades from "straw purchasers" of goods in civilian stores in the United States of America, where such items are sold freely and frequently without any criminal background investigation, is common knowledge.

Like the cartel wasn't going to shoot this guy anyway? Believe me, as a small arms dealer trying to eek out a living selling guns to cartels, there is no shortage of weapons. I've had the same dozen boxes of IMI Uzis sitting in my warehouse for fifteen months. I can't give the things away right now. That's all about to change, though, and all because of the FaF program. The US government sells BILLIONS of dollars worth of weapons to both the Mexican military and the Mexican cartels, funneling the weapons through small arms traders like me. They take a big bite out of the pie, though after this debacle they're going to have to step back. More money for me.

The people arguing that the FaF program had something to do with those people getting killed are kidding themselves. If a cartel hit man didn't have that government gun, he'd have a Russian made model; if he didn't have that, then he'd have a knife. If he didn't have the knife, then he'd have a length of piano wire. And if he didn't have that, he'd have his bare hands. And if he didn't have them, he'd have his feet. And if he didn't have those, we'd hang him in the foyer and introduce him as Art.

muck4doo:thomps: i admit i'm not well versed in this soap opera, but wasn't the whole "the ATF gave guns to drug cartels" narrative debunked a few months back?

I'm sure someone at Daily Kos gave a nice narrative of how this can't be true.

For those of us in the real world, we recognize the difference between an intel operation where things go bad originally meant to track and dismantle the cartels and an ATF that deliberately armed the cartels for absolutely no discernible reason whatsoever, and we deal with it like grown-ups.

For those of you in a child's alternate fantasy world, you believe the logical equivalent that an undercover police officer is genuinely committing crimes and genuinely attempting to aid organized crime, and if anybody points out something like Operation Wide Receiver, a Bush-era ATF operation that was exactly the same as F&F (and which resulted in successful indictments only when the Obama-era DOJ actually issued them, but which we never hear about because it would distract from the children's story narrative that Obama is arming Mexican drug cartels for no farking reason whatsoever), well then OH LOOK DAILYKOS BOOGEYMAN!, just like a child.

Dimensio:StopLurkListen: Anyone with reading comprehension would have understood by now that there were no "Fast and Furious" weapons released to be used in crime. That was a gross mischaracterization.

The ATF task force was contacted by gun vendors when certain transactions occurred, which the task force then brought to the District Attorney to get warrants to search the individual's person and property. These warrant requests were repeatedly denied by the DA.

That was the only connection the ATF had to the weapons.

I had read that the firearm sellers were reluctant to complete the transactions, but were instructed by the Bureau to do so.

I don't remember that detail but it make sense: if one wanted to track the chain of custody of something, you'd make sure it started where you'd be observing.

aaaaaaaaaaand nobody thought of the possibility that the "assassins" were purposely armed with those guns to try and stir shiat up in the US?

If i were a mexican drug cartel, and i found out that some of the weapons i bought were part of a failed sting operation from the US government. The same US government that was trying to bring me down, the first thing i would do is give those weapons to a bunch of unskilled poor homeless people and pay them to shoot at the very people who are aligned with the US government...

If I found out that the entire US Federal Government is on the hinge of political warfare, and knowing that if the US government is too busy fighting itself, it won't be able to come after me. And the key, the proverbial straw that would break the camel's back, was this gun, just this one little gun, that i have right here? Oh you better believe i will not let this opportunity pass me by...

Ehh:More proof, if any were needed, that the government will stick it to the small business owner if it can.

/Won't someone think of the gun retailers?

/I sell to leftists and rightists. I sell to pacifists, but they're not the most regular customers. Of course, you're not a true internationalist until you've supplied weapons to kill your own countrymen.

/it took a nipponized bit of the old sixth avenue el; in the top of his head: to tell him

Damn this is stupid. If the Republitards get their way, it'll put all the current misc. law enforcement folks still involved with Mexican cartels or drugs at huge risk. For what? If it's more than just a giant political smear, I'm not seeing it. Are they paid by the cartels? It makes no sense.